Legwarmers. Remember when they used to be for 80’s fitness videos with those super high cut body suits?

Well they’re back. With a vengeance. Everyone from dancers to yogis to every day people want a pair.

I had looked around at patterns but, as is sometimes the case, I just didn’t find anything that I LOVED.

So I made my own pattern.

Because I had never made these before I didn’t know exactly how much yarn I would need. As a result I opted to make the cuffs a different colour so that I would be safe. I didn’t want to use a colour that would detract from this stunning hand dyed yarn so white it was.

I knit until my leg warmer reached around 15″ from the beginning of the ribbing.

If your ribbing is in a different colour, now is again the time to switch.

Rib k2, p2 for 7 rows or desired length.

Bind off in rib.

And voila! Beautiful ribbed leg warmers 🙂

Enjoy!

*Copyright Shanti Knits 2015. You are welcome to sell items made from this pattern but I would really appreciate pattern credit on etsy or wherever else you sell. You are NOT welcome to repost this pattern or claim it as your own.*

I drink exactly one cup a day. On rare occasions I have a second cup. But my one cup a day makes me so happy. My favourites are Tofino Roast and North Mountain. One from each coast of Canada.

But I digress.

At Christmas I got a spindle. The beauty of fiber craft is that all the old is coming back to be new again. Drop spindles. Spinning wheels. What was one something only grandmothers did, children, teens and adults are picking up the craft.

I only learned to crochet in December 2012. I wanted to make a hat.

Since then I’ve made hundreds of items. I’ve picked up knitting. And spinning. I’ve become picky about yarns.

So I picked up this fleece from Fleece Artist at my Local Yarn Store – Pam’s Woolley Shoppe.

And then I spun it.

Then my daughter and I wound it and I plied it (i.e. I respun it holding it double twisting the other way to make it into yarn.

I washed it, tied it, hung it out to dry.

So the yarn wasn’t perfect. But it was awesome. There were parts I wasn’t thrilled with. But overall.. overall I’m SO happy with it!

Plus I love the pattern I made for the cup cozy so I decided to share it with you.

My son is obsessed with Minecraft. I really don’t understand the point of the game, but he seems to have fun playing it (in very limited quantities). As it’s still cold in the mornings here, I figured it was a good time to make him his own pair of Fingerless Gloves. I designed the pattern in the morning, knit them up while he was at school, and presented them to him when he got home. To say that he was happy is a gross understatement.

I love coffee. I prefer darker roasts. It started when I was pregnant with my 2nd and exhausted all the time. I started getting coffee before work. Then my daughter was born and every time I drank coffee she screamed. Until she was 8 months old.

Miraculously after that I was able to start drinking coffee again. I became a bit of a coffee snob – no longer could I drink cheap coffee. Instead, I had to drink top quality. And that hasn’t changed even 7 years later.

Notes:
* ch 1 at the beginning of the row does not count as a stitch
* I don’t make a hole in the pattern for the tie to feed through because I feel like there’s enough space between stitches to do this.
* Gauge – 9 rows & 12 stitches – roughly 4″
* When you are going to do the hdc-ch1-hdc, you skip the first hdc, then hdc-ch1-hdc in the ch1 space, then hdc in the next hdc. If you don’t skip the first hdc, you’re going to end up with waaaayyyyy too many stitches.

Yolk:

Ch 31Row 1: hdc in 2nd ch from hook, hdc across (30)Row 2: Ch 1, 2hdc in first stitch, hdc-ch1-hdc in 2nd stitch, hdc in next 7 , hdc-ch1-hdc in next, hdc in next 10 , hdc-ch1-hdc, hdc in next 7 , hdc-ch1-hdc in 2nd last stitch, 2hdc in last stitch (36)Row 3-13: ch 1, 2hdc in first stitch, *hdc up until ch 1, hdc-ch1-hdc in the ch 1 space*, repeat until last stitch, 2hdc in last stitch (increasing by 6 each row)

Attach a contrast colour to the end of a sleeve and sc around. Slip stitch to first stitch. Fasten off & weave in ends. Repeat on other sleeve.

Attach yarn to one corner.

Ch 1, Sc around front of kimono. When you reach the next corner, chain 30, slip stitch back along the chain (this is your first tie). Continue with sc along back of sweater. When you come to the other corner (where you started), chain 30, slip stitch back along the chain, slip stitch to first chain. Fasten off and weave in ends.

You will still need to make the ties on the sides. I don’t make a hole in which to thread the ties through because I find that I have enough room with hdc stitch. I thread the tie through one side and then attach the contrasting yarn at that stitch, chain 30, slip stitch back, slip stitch to attachment and fasten off.

For the opposite side you can eyeball it to determine where the tie will sit.

And voila! Kimono!

I kindly ask that you give me credit if you use my pattern and that you don’t use my pattern as your own.

I had really wanted to make my little man a yoda hat. Mostly because he kept asking me for one. I searched and search and although there are some fantastic patterns out there, I just didn’t find one that I liked. So I made my own. And I’m SUPER happy with how it turned out. I’m all for making my patterns free so here we go!

This hat in specific fits roughly a 5-10 year old but you can use the ears on any size hat!

Hat:
Magic Ring – make 7 hdc in magic ring (7)
(*If you don’t know how to make a magic ring, then ch 2 and hdc 7 in the 2nd chain from hook.)
Join with a ss.
At the beginning of every row I ch2 and start my first stitch in the same stitch as the ch2. At the end of every row I slip stitch to the first stitch. This creates an invisible seam – or more invisible than other ways anyway!
Row 2: ch 2, 2hdc in each stitch (14)
Row 3: ch 2, *2 hdc in first stitch, hdc in next stitch*. Repeat from * to * around. (21)
Row 4: ch 2, *2 hdc in first stitch, hdc in next 2 stitches*. Repeat from * to * around (28)
Row 5: ch 2, *2 hdc in first stitch, hdc in next 3 stitches*. Repeat from * to * around (35)
Row 6: ch 2, *2 hdc in first stitch, hdc in next 4 stitches.* Repeat from * to * around (42)
Row 7: ch 2, *2 hdc in first stitch, hdc in next 5 stitches.* Repeat from * to * around (49)
Row 8-16: ch 2, hdc around (49)
Row 17: ch 1, sc around (49)
Fasten off and weave in ends.

Take 2 ears and place them back to back. Starting at the bottom right corner, sc all the way around the ear making sure you are going through both ears. This makes the ears thicker and sturdier so that they don’t flop all over the place.

Once you get to the bottom left corner, leave a long tail (about a foot) to use to sew on to hat.

Repeat with the other 2 ears.

Place the ears on each side (I sewed on my ears between rows 8-13) and sew on to hat. Feel free to put a bit of a curve into the ears.

Sew in all the ends and voila! Yoda!

Please feel free to sell anything made from this pattern but please DO NOT sell the pattern as your own or copy it unless you have written permission from me. If you are selling on etsy or somewhere else, I would love a link back to my pattern.

I searched and searched and just couldn’t find a pattern that I was satisfied with for these little mittens. There are some really amazing patterns out there for these mittens, but none that I could find for chunkier wool for kids. So, I made my own up.

These mittens were commissioned by a 5 year old. He bought them with his own money. Now, tell me that isn’t cool! He picked the colours and requested that they have a tie on them so he could put them into his jacket.

So I went with it. And I plan to make lots more. Well, maybe not lots, but a few more anyway.

Feel free to use this pattern at your leisure! I just ask that you not sell this pattern or claim it as your own. You’re welcome to sell whatever you make from this pattern though but if you sell online, I’d love some credit!

Abbreviations:
K – knit
P – purlCluster 1 – *K4, slip next 2 stitches purl wise, repeat from * around (you will have 5 clusters). Repeat 4 more times for a total of 5 rows.Cluster 2 – *K1, slip next 2 stitches purl wise, K3, repeat from * around (you will have 5 clusters). Repeat 4 more times for a total of 5 rows.

Thumb:
Use 2 DPNs for the stitches (it makes it less clunky in my opinion *thanks for the tip Emily!!*)
One the first DPN transfer 5 of the stitches from your stitch holder.
On 2nd DPN transfer the last stitch then pick up as many stitches as you want from the other side to form the thumb.
Row 1: K around
Row 2: K around starting to reduce the stitches – to reduce K2tog – try to get down to about 12 stitches
Row 3: K around reducing to a total of 8 stitches
Rows 4-12: K around
Row 13: K2tog 4 times

Using a darning needle thread through the remaining 4 stitches and thread through to inside.